Hello,
I just found this site. It is great to see other Rialta owners together to share their stories, experiences and ideas.
I have had my 95 Rialta for 7 years and love it. Mine has 177,000 miles and runs fantastic. I've been running synthetic oil since I bought it as did the original owner.
After many trips to the local VW dealer (lots of frustrations...!) I have settled on a small independent VW repair shop for the mechanical work. They are a couple of guys in about 60 years old that have been working on VW's since the 60's. They know their stuff. If you are ever in the St. Louis area and need VW mechanical work (they don't work on A/C) check out Wolfsburg Inc.
Cheers,
Mike

Hi Mike You do not happen to have a 1995 owners repair mannual, when I puchased my 95'rialta last mo. it only came with the coach mannual I'm desperate for a manual that tells about the vw engine, chassis, etc. vw no longer makes that book. I will pay you for a copy Thanks Joyce jroenfeldt@frontiernet.net

That is awesome to see the high mileage and that you are happy. My 1999 HD has around 34,000 miles on it and I have only had it since 2010. Previous owners didn't use most of the equipment and it sat alot. I use EVERYTHING on these rigs and regularly operate them. I have had to iron out lots of bugs but things should be o.k. and I am almost done with my fix-it list. Mechanically, I had a few things and several Check Engine light episodes. I have a great service dealer here in Arizona (Chapman Volkswagen of Scottsdale) In case anyone is near Phoenix.

joyce said:Hi Mike You do not happen to have a 1995 owners repair mannual, when I puchased my 95'rialta last mo. it only came with the coach mannual I'm desperate for a manual that tells about the vw engine, chassis, etc. vw no longer makes that book. I will pay you for a copy Thanks Joyce jroenfeldt@frontiernet.net

You can get a Haynes or Chiltons manual for a 1995 Eurovan, and it will have all the Engine/Drivetrain/Suspension info. Should be available at any Autozone, or online at Amazon.

Mike Aehle said:Hello, I just found this site. It is great to see other Rialta owners together to share their stories, experiences and ideas. I have had my 95 Rialta for 7 years and love it. Mine has 177,000 miles and runs fantastic. I've been running synthetic oil since I bought it as did the original owner. After many trips to the local VW dealer (lots of frustrations...!) I have settled on a small independent VW repair shop for the mechanical work. They are a couple of guys in about 60 years old that have been working on VW's since the 60's. They know their stuff. If you are ever in the St. Louis area and need VW mechanical work (they don't work on A/C) check out Wolfsburg Inc. Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike,

I'm about to buy my first Rialta, a 95 model with 68,000 miles. I was wondering what I could reasonably expect for gas mileage?

I always go with the synthetic oil also, good to know I'll be able to get another 100k out of it! I'm curious, is the transmission the original, or did you have to have it rebuilt? I will be putting a new timing belt and water pump on mine as soon as I get it. Any other major things I should look into? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I will give a small piece of advice to anyone interested. A can of Berryman's Chem Tool every 3-4 months in your gas tank (available at the automotive department at any Walmart $4 or $5 I believe) will keep your fuel system, injectors, fuel tank, O2 sensor, throttle body, etc. running clean and help eliminate some of those pesky check engine lights. Clogged injectors KILL gas mileage. Also if you can find a good high flow air filter like a K&N or Fram Air Hog, that will help maximize your MPGs also.